Thu 24th Mar - Day
SIX:
Egyptians advance as quarter-finalists are settledToday saw
the second part of Round Two as quarter-finalists were finalised.

There were no upsets today as the top seeds and defending
champions - Mohamed Elshorbagy, Laura Massaro and Camille Serme
- all went through with the highly-anticipated
Elshorbagy-Willstrop rematch from Seattle going the way of the
Egyptian world #1 - and it was another good day for the
Egyptians with five winners taking their quarter-final count to
nine.

Quick reports below, photos in the gallery,
full reports on the Egypt/Tecnifibre pages ...

The
last match of the day was an all-Egyptian encounter - and the
longest match of the day by a good margin - between Karim Abdel
Gawad and Fares Dessouki to see who would contest an
all-Egyptian quarter-final with Marwan Elshorbagy.

Dessouki
edged a 20 minute opening game in extra points but Gawad fired
straight back, dominating a 6-minute second to level. Dessouki
was 8-3 up in the third before Gawad mounted a determined
comeback to take the lead.

The
fourth was nip and tuck with the referees heavily involved as
they had been all match.

Gawad came from behind to earn two match balls at 10-8, Dessouki
took a self-inflicted injury break after saving the first and
promptly tinned after he'd returned to court to face the second.

"Fares is one of my best friends on tour," said a delighted
but relieved Gawad, "but you have to forget that when you go on
court.

Massaro digs in

World #1 Laura Massaro showed her mettle as she trailed in both
opening games to Line Hansen, taking both before accelerating
away in the third.

Hansen
led 9-7 in the first, and 10-9 and 11-10 in the second but
Massaro, renowned for her mental strength and determination,
clawed her way back to take both - without a "C'mon" in sight.

The
third was much simpler for the top seed, who eased through to
set up an enticing quarter-final with Camille Serme, a repeat of
last yea's final!

"It will be a good match for the crowd," said Massaro. "I
feel like I am playing well and much better than I was this time
last year, and I dont have an 85-minute match in my legs like I
did going into last year's final so I just want to play my
best."

Shorbagy gets his revenge

"I've
been waiting for this match for four months," said top seed
and defending champion Mohamed Elshorbagy after beating James
Willstrop in a repeat of their World Champs clash last November
in Seattle, which of course the Englishman won.

In
truth there seemed little prospect of Willstrop repeating that
upset today, the Egyptian world #1 was on top for most of the
match, responding to Willstrop taking the third game by upping
the pace in the fourth to close out a satisfying win.

"James surprised me that day," said Shorbagy, "he was one of
the best players in the world but had been out for a while, and
the first time he played like we all knew he could was against
me!"

Willstrop's defeat means that there will be no Englishman in the
quarter-finals since 1992.

Serme safely through

Defending champion Camille Serme is safely through to the
quarter-finals after a solid three-nil win over England's Vicky
Lust.

Dominant in the first game, the Frenchwoman needed to stage a
mini-comeback from the middle of the second to double her
advantage, but was quickly on top and in front again in the
third.

"Im very happy with the way I played today," said Camille.
"I was a bit nervous, two years ago, I lost in the 2nd round, so
last year, I told myself, just dont lose in the second round!"

Marwan through as Saurav
retires

Marwan
Elshorbagy continues to impress, looking every much a British
Open quarter-finalist - or more - as he got the better of his
two opening games against India's Saurav Ghosal.

From the middle of the second Ghosal was looking more and more
uncomfortable, and although he left his racket on court at the
end of the second, it wasn't a surprise that the injury he
picked up during his opening match was now troubling him
sufficiently to walk over to Marwan and shake his hand.

Marwan now plays the winner of tonight's match between Gawad and
Dessouki, meaning that two Egyptian semi-finalists - at least -
are guaranteed.

SJ makes it tough for
Raneem

Sarah-Jane
Perry made third seed Raneem El Welily work hard for her
quarter-final place.

The Englishwoman took a good lead in the opening game only to
see Welily claw it back and take the lead. She had a lead in the
middle of the second too, lost it, then came back to earn game
balls at 10-9 and 11-10 but again it was the Egyptian who took
it.

Welily led throughout the third but it was never comfortable,
but with SJ doing the splits and diving to the corners of the
court, she again managed to close the game out.

"Annoying," said SJ. "A poor serve and a terrible drop on my
game balls. Next time!"

Rodriguez fires into
quarters

In
the first men's match of the day Mohamed Abouelghar was
improving game by game, but it came just a little late to
seriously trouble Miguel Angel Rodriguez, who made the
quarter-finals with a straight-game win.

Unforced errors from the young Egyptian were the order of the
day in the first game, the Colombian accepting the gratefully
for a quick lead.

Abouelghar reduced the error count in the next two games and
never let Rodriguez get too far ahead but still, at crucial
times, the tin came to the Colombian's aid.

Gohar through to quartersToday's
first match saw world junior champion Nouran Gohar through to
the quarters with a straight game win over Annie Au. With the
head to head standing at 2-apiece and the seeding as #8 v #9 it
could have been a tricky encounter, but the young Egyptian
dominated most of a match which comprised mainly short rallies.

Having
taken the first Gohar was quickly up in the second with Au
making a few errors at the end, and although the Hong Kong
player had a narrow lead in the middle of the third, Gohar
accelerated away to take the match in just under half an hour.

"I'd never beaten her 3-0, last time I was 2-0 and 7-2 up and
lost so I'm happy to win in three," said Gohar. "I have trained
hard at home for this event, one of the most important of our
Tour, I like the court conditions, its hard and bouncy, it
suits my game, hitting hard and running around!"